This is a great interview with Dave Ronan! Dave talks about what it takes for most pastors to begin a successful transition into most new churches. Obviously, there are as many ways to begin a successful ministry as there are churches, but Dave’s advice and counsel can keep you from the giant potholes. We hope you enjoy this episode and gain a ton of wisdom and encouragement from it!

In this podcast episode, we ask Dave three major questions, which he answers with vim and verve: (or at least vim!)
1. How would you define a dysfunctional board?
2. What is the purpose of a functional, healthy board?
3. What can I do if I have a dysfunctional board?

This is one of our early conversations with Dave, and it's funny to listen to, because now we are so much more comfortable talking to him, because we know him so much better.

All of us have dealt with dysfunction in a church board before, and guaranteed - our boards have dealt with dysfunction in a pastor before! But, since this is a podcast for pastors, we get to focus on dysfunctional boards today!

We hope that you get some good tips and direction from Dave Jacobs as you listen to this episode. To hear the episode, as it appeared originally in episode 58, click here.

Jeff and Jonny had the best time talking with Christena Cleveland on the campus of Bethel University recently. We "just happened" to set up a remote 200churches Studio at Bethel, and Christena "just happened" to stop by to talk with us!

Christena was unbelievably delightful to talk with and we are so happy to share our conversation with you. We got into the subject of race and reconciliation, so if you hear some things that you don't normally hear, we ask you to listen very closely, and we guarantee you will gain some great perspectives from Dr. Cleveland.

In the podcast episode Christena talks about resources on her website for small church pastors to use to begin thinking about how they can help their churches remove the barriers between groups separated by age, economic status, health, or race. You can find those resources on her page here.

Can we introduce her by the following video clip? Then below the video, we'll give you more information from her website at ChristenaCleveland.com.

Christena Cleveland is a social psychologist, author, speaker and professor with a hopeful passion for overcoming cultural divisions in groups. Drawing from a vast body of research, she uncovers the underlying processes that affect relationships within and between groups and helps leaders understand how to promote an appreciation for diversity and build effective collaborations with diverse groups.

In 2014, Christianity Today magazine named her one of “33 Under 33” (millennials leading the next generation of Christian faith) and JET magazine identified her one as of 5 “online shepherds to follow.”

She earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. from the University of California Santa Barbara. An award-winning researcher and gifted teacher, she has published numerous scholarly articles and is an associate professor of reconciliation studies at Bethel University. Beyond academic experience, Christena brings organizational experience to her efforts to build unity. She coaches pastors and leaders on multicultural issues and speaks regularly.

This month, August 2015, we are doing something we've never done before, we are presenting hybrid "BEST OF" episodes! These four episodes for August have all new and current beginnings and endings, or "intro's" and "outro's", as we call them - but the conversation in the middle is from four of the very best from our first 130 episodes!

If you've been listening all along, you likely have heard these, but they are the episodes that have had the most traction and impact in the lives of our listeners. This episode is our conversation with Jonny's Dad on the issue of depression, as David Craig shares his own journey with depression, a journey he is still on!

David writes about his story, through his novels in the "Buffalo Stampede" series of books he authored. You can access them through his website at www.davidccraig.net.

If you are suffering with Depression, two other episodes that might interest you are Episodes 106 and 114.